Transcript of "ICLEI Green Economy Policy Brief"

1.
Green Urban Economy A green economy improves human well-being and reduces inequalities over the long term, while not exposing future generations to signiﬁcant environmental risks and ecological scarcities. Cities and urban areas offer unique opportunities to realize a green economy. Due to the geographical concentration of people, infrastructure, knowledge, economic activity and resources, cities are able to achieve more with less - or, in other words, to turn density and urban systems into eco-efﬁciency. ICLEI Brieﬁng Sheet September 2011 (updated)Emerging global debate on green economyScope. A green economy takes into account the wider concerns over rising energy Green Urban Economycosts, energy security, environmental risks, limited natural resources, decliningecosystem services and fears over economic slowdown and uncertainty. It also "A green urban economyconsiders the impacts of investments in infrastructures and wider consumption realizes opportunities toand production cycles on the sustainability of natural resources and ecological enhance human well-being and local natural resources,services. Economic activities and their environmental implications need to be while reducing future costs,rethought, reshaped and remodeled to take into account future costs. ecological scarcities and environmental risks."Investments. In the wake of the global ﬁnancial crisis 2008-2010, the concept Source: ICLEI (2011).of a green economy was provided with fresh impetus following wide-spreaddiscussions on a Green New Deal, to enable a “green recovery”. Largeinvestments were seen as necessary to support the recovery of the world economy.These ﬁnancial investments offered an opportunity to invest in green economicsectors.Rio+20. Twenty years after the ﬁrst Earth Summit, the United Nations Conferenceon Sustainable Development (UNCSD) will be held in May 2012 in Rio de Green EconomyJaneiro, also known as Rio+20. In 1992 the Earth Summit resulted in Agenda 21, “A green economy is onethe Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the three so-called that results in improvedRio Conventions on Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Desertiﬁcation. For human well-being andRio+20 the national governments have chosen green economy within the context social equity, whileof poverty eradication and sustainable development (as one of two themes). signiﬁcantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. InUrban future. By 2050 two-thirds of all humans will be living in cities and its simplest expression,urban areas. Already the cities on this “urban planet” account for 67 per cent of a green economy can beworld primary energy consumption and contribute around 80 per cent of total thought of as one whichglobal greenhouse gas emissions. Societies are dependent upon the performance is low carbon, resourceof urban economies, while the urban economy is dependent on ecosystem services efﬁcient and sociallyand resources. Local governments wish to be recognized as relevant actors and inclusive.”provide their contribution to greening the urban and local economy, thereby Source: UNEP Greencontributing to a global green economy. Economy Initiative, January 2011. www.iclei.org

2.
Why a green economy? Eco-efﬁciency Costs of doing nothing. The Stern Review (2006) shows that “the beneﬁts of Eco efﬁciency means using strong, early action on climate change outweigh the costs”. With a scenario of fewer resources to produce 2-3 °C degrees warming by the end of the century, a permanent loss of up to more goods and services three percent in global economic output could occur compared to a world without while at the same time climate change. With a warming of 5 to 6 °C degrees it could reach an average reducing society’s negative effects on the environment. 5-10 percent loss in global GDP. Poor countries will suffer higher losses. The Cities must become Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB, 2010) study repeats a similar models of eco-efﬁciency conclusion, stating that the “economic analysis indicates that maintaining healthy by innovating solutions ecosystems is often the less expensive option”. to wastage, excess and Key challenges. Our economic production and consumption patterns strongly inefﬁciency. interact with our social and ecological systems. Our governance and decision- Source: ICLEI (2010). making processes inform the future viability of our economic activities and social well-being. For example our political and economic foundations will determine whether we can build 4 billion new urban houses in the next 40 years, whether we can limit global warming to 2 °C degrees compared to 1990 levels, and whether the state and quality of our ecosystems and resources can be maintained. Governance and management of Green economy principles. economic activites and use of resources. A green economy needs to be Source: ICLEI (2010). understood as a new way of looking at the contribution of economic activities to sustainable development and not as the replacement of sustainable development. A green economy needs to recognize the true value of ecosystems and natural resources, and the economic beneﬁts of long-term ecologically and socially sound economic activities. A green economy can contribute to decent jobs and improving social conditions through job security, reasonable career prospects, and worker rights, while mitigating pollution and health effects, resource degradation and exploitative, harmful work conditions. Reducing poverty goes hand-in-hand with sustainable resource management, and contributes to meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Cities opportunities to green the urban economy Doing more with less. The global debate on a green economy chas to be spelled out locally. Due to the concentration of people, knowledge, infrastructures, resources and economic activities, cities offer unique opportunities to do more with less and to be highly eco-efﬁcient. The largest 100 urban economic areas are estimated to account for $ 15,247 billion USD GDP, almost 30 per cent of global GDP in 2005. Cities can beneﬁt and realize opportunities from green economies by enhancing their environmental assets, and by improving their environmental, social and economic conditions. Not only national leaders, but also local leaders can reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance ecological services, and minimize environmental risks.2 ICLEI Brieﬁng Sheet – September 2011 (updated)

3.
Green urban economy. A viable green urban economy needs to be based on ICLEIs contributions to acradle-to-cradle material cycles, more eco-efﬁcient systems, and the creation of green economy:decent jobs. The economic models and analysis for decision making processes Facilitating localneed to integrate environmental and social costs, while governance and government input andmanagement need support and enable green economic conditions. Progressive representation at theurban areas and cities can beneﬁt from being ”green leaders” by attracting green Rio+20 UN conference,economic activities to their cities. Employers and employees can directly beneﬁt preparing case studies onfrom the creation of new or the transformation of old jobs to decent green jobs. green urban economy andGreen cities. Urban form and density, land-use, integrated design strategies, local sustainability,technologies, and the construction of buildings, as well as urban utilities of introducing the conceptenergy, water, and waste systems can be improved to reduce resource and energy of green economy to localconsumption. Social opportunities arise as cities start to beneﬁt from cleaner governments and cityurban environments and improved living conditions, lower exposure to resource actors,scarcities, fewer price ﬂuctuations and costs from energy wastage and more looking to assist localaccessible public transportation. governments towards greening the urban economy,Role for local governments to green the local economy connecting leaders fromLocal governments as actors. Numerous economic activities fall under local local governments andgovernments’ jurisdiction. Local governments activities are not isolated from other sectors with eachthose of the private sector. Local governments take on managerial and economic other,roles, for example in the provision and operation of municipal utilities. Local continuing ICLEIsgovernments can encourage, enable, motivate, measure and regulate the local Sustainable Procurementeconomy to deliver better and greener returns. Together with other city actors they Program (www. procuraplus.org), climatecan engage, change and inform current debates. programs and many other.Steering municipal investments and purchasing power to inﬂuence themarket. Environmental and social criteria can be taken into account in investmentand procurement decisions, for example when procuring municipal vehicles orinvesting in buildings. Investments into municipal services, such as energy, publictransport, waste and water, can change the energy usage and waste productionof a city. Such investments make utilities and services more efficient andenvironmentally sound. In such a process, clear signals are sent to the market infavour of sustainable goods and services.Setting framework conditions for investments. Local governments can alsouse their regulatory powers for strategic urban development. A smart, connectedand compact city can be enabled through building codes, land-use policies,and energy-efﬁciency standards. Strategic planning can support the growth ofrenewable energy and clean technologies, reduce energy loss and enhance theeconomic returns of public transportation systems.Incentives and ﬁnance. Local governments can inﬂuence the private sectorbehavior through ﬁnancial incentives and disincentives, such as environmentaltaxes, charges or reductions. Other mechanisms include land value or cost-recovery, attractive settlement conditions, Build-Operate-Transfer, purchasingpools, grants, loans and funds. Such special ﬁnancial conditions can make morelong-term investments in sustainable transportation or energy infrastructures morerisk-proof and economically viable. Unsustainable industries and businesses canbe more heavily monitored, taxed or have stricter licensing requirements.Informing private behavior. Local governments already provide advice,information and services on activities in support of a green economy. These includethe provision of green recreational areas, promotion of eco-labeling schemesand information centers on renewable energies or sustainable ecosystems usage. ICLEI Brieﬁng Sheet – September 2011 (updated) 3